W.H. urges Egypt to release Al Jazeera journalists

The White House is urging Egypt to release Al Jazeera journalists detained on charges related to terrorism, Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Tuesday.

“We have expressed these concerns directly to the government of Egypt,” Carney said. “And we have strongly urged the government to drop these charges and release those journalists and academics who have been detained.”

Last week Egyptian prosecutors said they had charged 20 Al Jazeera journalists with belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, fabricating news reports and tarnishing Egypt's reputation abroad. On Monday a private Egyptian television channel aired footage set to the music of the movie “Thor: The Dark World," of the arrest and interrogation of Al Jazeera's Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Peter Greste at their hotel in December.

Carney said Egypt's transition can only move forward if all Egyptians are free to express themselves without fear of intimidation or violence."

“I think that we are expressing very directly the fact that we’re deeply concerned that this contravenes the very constitution that provides the freedoms that we hold dear and we believe the Egyptian people hold dear,” Carney said. “And we’re making that clear to the Egyptian government.”

A social media campaign by Al Jazeera is urging journalists and supporters to take a photo of themselves with tape over their mouths and a sign with hashtag "#FreeAJStaff."

Egypt's military-backed government has placed the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera at the center of their media crackdown, which some attribute to the fact that Qatar supported the Muslim Brotherhood and has been absorbing their exiled leaders.